MARGAO
Expressing unhappiness over the slow pace of implementing political reservation for Scheduled Tribes (STs), the United Tribal Associations Alliance (UTAA) on Saturday warned that the community would decide its future course of action if the quota is not implemented for the 2027 Assembly elections.
UTAA chief Prakash Velip said anger was building within the tribal community over delays in operationalising the law passed by Parliament and asserted that STs were only seeking rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
“The ST communities are not beggars. We have been agitating since 2003 for our constitutional rights, including political reservation. We are the Mull Goemkars, and we fail to understand why we have to beg for rights already enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.
Velip said a delegation comprising UTAA representatives and ST MLAs had met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to seek an update on the implementation exercise, but had received no further communication.
He reminded the government that the community had been pursuing the demand for over two decades and recalled that tribal youths Dilip Velip and Manguesh Gaonkar lost their lives during the 2011 Balli agitation.
Pointing out that ST communities had missed political reservation in four Assembly elections since 2003, Velip said they had recently organised a massive rally at Mardol to press for the demand.
He expressed concern that the process was not being expedited to ensure implementation before the 2027 polls.
“Tomorrow, they may say the Model Code of Conduct has come into force. We have been demanding implementation of the Act passed by Parliament since August 2025,” he said.
